Disney Channel is a German free-to-air television channel owned by The Walt Disney Company (Germany) GmbH, a itself owned by The Walt Disney Company. The channel is based in Munich.

Aimed at all ages, its programming consists of original first-run television series, theatrically-released and original made-for-cable movies and select other third-party programming. The original programming is mainly brought by the American flagshipDisney Channel.

The channel – which formerly operated as a premium service – was originally launched on 16 October 1999[1] as a subscription television channel of Sky Deutschland. As of 17 January 2014, the German Disney Channel has become a free-to-air channel.

Walt Disney Television International opened their German offices near Munich by 1 March 1999. The Disney Channel Germany was launched on 16 October 1999 as a subscription channel.[1]

Disney purchased Das Vierte free-to-air TV station by December 2012 from Dmitry Lesnevsky, a Russian media mogul, and former owner of Russia's REN-TV. In April 2013, Disney announced that Das Vierte (the Fourth) would become a Disney Channel in January 2014 as a 24-hour family entertainment network under Disney Channels German head Lars Wagner.[3]

Initial daytime programming included standard Disney channel fare Jessie, Austin & Ally, Phineas and Ferb and Gravity Falls while prime time saw Pixar films and older drawing shows like ABC Family shows plus Hallmark Channel's Cedar Cove. Disney formed an in house ad sales company, Disney Media +, for the channel given that two competitors control most ad sales companies.[4][5] The channel will also be offered on two online platforms: live-stream and a catch-up service.[4] The channel launched over the air on January 17, 2014[5] at 6 AM with the classic animated short filmSteamboat Willie.[6] Disney reported that its launch weekend pushed them past Nick in to third place among kid broadcast channels.[2]